By Adel Abdelrheem
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – The United States sanctioned three senior commanders of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) this week on accusations of committing war crimes and large-scale abuses during the 18-month siege of El Fasher in North Darfur.
The move comes as UN investigators warned that actions by RSF forces during their late-October takeover of the city bore the “hallmarks of genocide,” underscoring mounting international scrutiny over atrocities committed in western Sudan.
In a statement on Thursday, the US State Department said the sanctioned individuals were members of the RSF “whose forces have committed genocide, war crimes and serious human rights abuses in Sudan.”
The Treasury Department, through its Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the three commanders played central roles in the prolonged siege of El Fasher, which ended in October with RSF forces seizing control of the city after months of encirclement and bombardment.
According to Treasury, RSF fighters carried out ethnically targeted killings, torture, starvation tactics and widespread sexual violence during the campaign.
The sanctions freeze any assets held in the United States or under US jurisdiction and prohibit American individuals or entities from engaging in transactions with the designated commanders. Entities owned 50% or more by them are also subject to the restrictions.
- Abu Lulu: Mass killings
Among those sanctioned is Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris Adam, known as Abu Lulu.
US officials accused him of personally carrying out atrocities during the El Fasher siege and of filming himself killing unarmed civilians.
The Treasury said Abu Lulu interrogated captured Sudanese soldiers, forced them to disclose their tribal affiliations and chant pro-RSF slogans, before executing them at close range.
It also cited his alleged role in the March 2024 execution of detainees at the Al-Jaili refinery north of Khartoum.
Videos widely circulated during the Darfur fighting showed Abu Lulu celebrating battlefield killings and claiming responsibility for hundreds of deaths.
On Oct. 30 last year, the RSF announced that it had detained him for investigation over crimes in El Fasher following the group’s takeover of the city.
The RSF seized El Fasher on Oct. 26 after months of siege in violence that local and international organizations described as massacres against civilians.
Three days later, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, acknowledged that “violations” had occurred in El Fasher and said committees had been formed to investigate, though no public findings have been released.
- Abu Shouk: North Darfur command
The US also sanctioned Maj. Gen. Jedo Hamdan Ahmed Mohammed, known as Abu Shouk, who has served as RSF commander in North Darfur since 2021.
The Treasury said fighters under his command participated in the siege and eventual capture of El Fasher and were responsible for mass killings, abductions, torture and gender-based violence.
He was reportedly filmed at a former Sudanese Armed Forces base after the city fell, a presence US officials said linked him directly to operations in the area.
-Al-Zeir Salem: Frontline commander
The third sanctioned commander is Al-Tijani Ibrahim Musa Mohammed, known as Al-Zeir Salem.
He rose to prominence after the outbreak of war in April 2023 and appeared frequently in battlefield videos from Khartoum and Darfur.
The Treasury said he directed RSF forces attacking El Fasher from the southern axis of the city and oversaw operations that included killings, torture, abductions and sexual violence against civilians regardless of age or gender.
He was seen in footage released in the final days of the El Fasher battle appearing wounded but declaring that his forces would enter the city.
Since the conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF began in April 2023, Washington has imposed successive sanctions on RSF leadership, including Hemedti and his brothers Abdel Rahim and Al-Qoni.
Beyond Darfur, fighting has intensified across Sudan’s three Kordofan states in recent weeks, displacing tens of thousands and deepening what aid agencies describe as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
*Writing by Tarek Chouiref